1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to a microphone array system and a microphone array control method which picks up sound from a desired sound source in a target area.
2. Description of the Related Art
For example, in a large venue, such as the venue for the lecture or an auditorium, where a lecture or a course is given to a large audience, the voice of a lecturer or an instructor is amplified such that the voice widely reaches within the venue. However, when the lecturer or the instructor receives a question from one of the audience members, it is necessary to amplify voice emitted by the audience member in the same manner. In such a case, the sound of the voice emitted by the audience member is picked up and reproduced by a microphone such that the lecturer or the instructor easily listens to the question of the audience member, or other audience members in the venue can monitor the content of the question between the lecturer and the audience member.
In order to pick up the sound of voice from a questioner in an arbitrary position in the large venue, methods are used of arranging a plurality of microphones throughout the entire venue, picking up sound by switching to a microphone close to the questioner, picking up sound by moving the microphone to the questioner, and the like. For example, Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 2004-080121 and Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 2014-110640 disclose microphone array systems which can be used for such a purpose. Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 2004-080121 discloses an infrared ray receiver that includes a plurality of infrared-type microphones, switches and receives infrared signals from the microphones, and is capable of picking up sound in a plurality of positions. Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 2014-110640 discloses an audio system that includes wireless microphones associated with an antenna array linked to a common network and is capable of picking up sound from one or more audio sources.
When the sound of voice from the questioner in the arbitrary position is picked up in the large venue, there are problems in that a system becomes large complicated, and very costly in the configuration in which the plurality of microphones are arranged and switched. In addition, in the configuration in which sound is picked up by moving the microphone to the questioner, a venue staff carries the microphone by hand, for example. Therefore, labor and time are required to move the microphone, and thus, a large amount of labor is required for operation.
An object of the present disclosure is to improve convenience when sound is picked up from a desired sound source in a target area.